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A. F. LITTLEFIELD. SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED snmzs. 191s.

Patented Aug. 12

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AUGUSTINE F. LITTLEFIELD, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SEW ING-MACI-TIN E.

Application filed September 25-, 1916. SerialNoi 122,071.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTINE F. LITTLE- FIELD, a citizen of the .United'States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to means by which injury to the sewing-instrumentalities or the mechanism of a sewing-machine may be avoided, when unusual resistance to. the advancing movement of the needle is encountered.

In sewing machines .of the type employed in sewing the inseam of a welted shoe, the

shoe is in part guided and supported by.

means of a device known as a channelguide, this device being arranged to enter the channel in the insole and to engage the bottom of the channel at a point close beside that at which the needle passes through the between-substance of the insole. The channel-guide constitutes the means for supporting the work against the thrust of the needle, so that if any unusual resistance to this thrust is incurred the strain falls upon the channel-guide, as well as upon the needle and the needle-actuating mechanism. A frequent cause of such unusual resistance is the presence of lasting-tacks in the betweensubstance. When such a tack is encountered by the needle it subjects the needle directly to resistance. It also usually deflects the needle from its proper course, and this deflection may be in such a direction as to cause the needle to strike the channel-guide; The needle when so deflected is usually broken, and the blunt stub of the needle may then press against the channel guide with the result of straining the actuating-mechanism and of breaking the channel-guide.

The object of the present invention is to avoid the occurrence of excessive strain, and the liability of breakage, resulting from such causes as those just described. To this end it is proposed to mount the channelguide yieldingly, so that while it normally retains its proper operative relation to the needle, and resists the thrust to which the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side-elevation of a sewing-machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a front-elevation, partly in section, showing in detail the channel-guide and its yielding connections with theother parts of the machine. Fig. 3 is a side-elevation, and Fig. 4: is a plan View, of the parts shown in Fig. 2.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in an inseam-sewing machine constructed in accordance with United States Letters Patent No. 1,108,560, granted August 25, 1914: to Andrew Eppler.

a channel-guide 10, and a back-rest 12, all constructed and operating in the well known manner of -machines of this type. The needle is arranged to move in a path concentric with a pivot-stud 14, and the needle is oscillated, and the other parts of the machine are actuated, by mechanism including a cam-shaft 16 and cams 18 mounted thereon.

The channel-guide 10 has the usual lower extremity 20, which enters the channel of the insole, and, as shown in Fig. 4, the needle 6 advances through the between-substance in a path of movement close to the end of the channel-guide. The present invention resides particularly in the manner in which the channel-guide is supported. As shown in Fig. 2, the channel-guide is provided with a vertical shank 22, which is ofiset laterally from the extremity 20. This shank is journaled in a bearing-sleeve 24 integral with a slotted plate 26, this plate being fixed, by means of a binding-screw 28, to

Said machine com prlses a curved hooked needle 6, a looper8,

a member 30 of the machine, by which the channel-guide is supported and actuated in the same manner as in said Patent No. 1,108,560. The movable connection between the shank 22 and the sleeve 24 permits a swinging movement of the channel-guide relatively to the plate 26, whereas in the machine of said patent these parts are rigidly connected. This movement is controlled by a torsion-spring 32, which is coiled around the shank 22, one end 3a of the spring being seated in a slot in the shank, while the other end 36 is seated in a recess in the sleeve 24:. The shank is retained against endwise move ment by a nut 38 and a collar 40, the latter bearing against a shoulder on the shank.

The spring 32 tends to rotate the shank in a direction to swing the extremity 20 of the channel-guide inwardly, that is, toward the work. Movement in this direction is limited, however, by a stop-pin 42 which projects from the channel-guide and cooperates with a stop-lug 44 depending from the sleeve 24. The normal position of the parts is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, in which the spring 32 maintains the stop-pin and the stop-lug in engagement, the normal position of the channel-guide being thereby determined; but

whenever the channel-guide is subjected to.

an unusual pressure in the direction of the advancing movement of the needle the spring yields, permitting the lower extremity of the channel-guide to swing outwardly to whatever degree may be necessary to relieve the parts from strain. As soon as the pressure is removed the spring returns the channelguide to its normal position. The strength of the spring is such that it does not yield to the strains normally encountered and due to the resistance of the work to the passage of the needle.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but

may be embodied in various other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Vhat is claimed is 1. An inseam-sewing machine having, in combination, sewing-instrumentalities including a needle; a channel-guide; and means supporting the channel-guide normally in operative relation with the needle, but yieldable during the work piercing stroke of the needle to permit displacement of the channel-guide when subjected to an unusual pressure in the direction of the advancing movement of the needle.

2. An inseanrsewing machine having, in combination, eluding a needle; a channel-guide; and means supporting the channel-guide normally in operative relation with the needle but yieldable during the work piercing stroke of the needle to permit the channelguide to be moved in the general direction of the advancing movement of the needle.

3. An inseam-sewing machine having, in combination, sewing-instrumentalities in cluding a needle; a channel-guide provided with a shank and a laterally-ofiset workingextremity; a bearing in which said shank is mounted to turn; a spring arranged to resist such turning movement in one direction; and positive means for limiting turning movement of the shank in the opposite direction.

4. A sewing-machine having, in combination, sewing-instrumentalities including a needle; a device for supporting the work against the advance of the needle through the work and yielding means supporting said device normally in a fixed operative relation to the needle but yieldable during the work piercing stroke of the needle to permit movement of said device in the general direction of the advancing movement of the needle.

AUGUSTINE F. LITTLEFIELD.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

sewing-instrumentalities in-, 

